The MIAH Foundation is delighted to announce the opening of our new exhibition at the MIAH Islamic Arts & Heritage Gallery in Balsall Heath, Birmingham: Fabric of Faith: the Arts & Textiles of the Hajj. This exhibition explores how the annual pilgrimage of Hajj has inspired pilgrims, artists and art over the centuries through historic artworks, textiles including the kiswa from the Ka'ba and a mahmal from the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II, paintings of the Holy Sanctuaries, old photographs, ephemera, and the memorabilia of pilgrims.
Bringing together objects from private collections to be displayed together for the first time, some of the highlights of the exhibition include: a stunning mahmal (processional palanquin), which accompanied the new kiswa for the Ka'ba and led the pilgrim caravan from Cairo to Makkah during the rule of the Ottoman Sultan, Abdülhamid II (r. 1876-1909); textiles from the holy sites in Makkah and Madinah, including an embroidered section of a kiswa from the Ka'ba dated 1796-7 and the kiswa of the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad; old photographs of pilgrims and the holy sanctuary; historical objects and artworks that were inspired by the holy sites, and a few selected contemporary works of art. These will be displayed alongside personal objects of memorabilia and ephemera from the local community.
Dates: 8th May - 28th June 2025 on Thursdays to Saturdays (dates subject to interest - Due to popular demand, we have extended the available dates through the end of June.) We advise to book early.
LAUNCH WEEK EVENTS:
Thursday 8th May 2025, 5:30pm - 6pm: Private View with Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Cllr Ken Wood and MIAH supporters.
Saturday 10th May 2025, 4:30pm - 6pm: Launch event with Lord Mayor of Solihull, Cllr Shaheen Ashraf and guests. Light refreshments will be provided.
SCHOOLS / GROUP EDUCATIONAL VISITS:
Do you want to bring your school or group to visit? We will be running educational sessions for schools, educational groups and madrasas on Thursdays 10:30am-12pm and 12:30pm-2pm during the course of the exhibition. These will include a short talk about the exhibition, followed by a chance to explore the exhibition with learning and creative activities. Please note that we are only able to accommodate a limited number of slots and they will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis. As we need to hire additional space within the building and hire an extra staff member to run the group sessions, our priority is to block-fill Thursdays before we offer any other days.
Visit our dedicated Groups/School Exhibition Booking page. If you have any further enquiries that are not answered in the Group Bookings link, please email us: [email protected] with 'educational visits' in the address bar.
TICKETS: FREE / DONATIONS REQUESTED
We rely on the generosity of ordinary donors and supporters to continue our work and currently need to raise £12,000 to stay open for another year. We strongly urge everyone who books tickets to make a donation of whatever you can afford (we recommend £4 per person or £12 per family). However, we realise that this is not always affordable so have provided an option for up to two tickets to be booked for FREE for those on low incomes only.
We would like to thank the generous support of Al Tajir Trust.